Folding desk or cabinet



3 SHEETS-SHE?! i.

Suva-Atom W. TANQUERY.

FOLDING DESK 0R CABINET.

F APPLlCATlQN HLED. DEC. 20 I919. 1 3? 1 gg i m: -E[m'. 15, 192L 3 SHEETSSHEE1 2.

W. TANQUERYQ FOLEHNG DESK 0R CABINET. APPLICATION mm 05020, 191.9.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM TANQUERY, or SELMA, ALABAMA.

FOLDING DESK OR CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented -Mar. 15, 1 921.

Application filed December 20, 1919. Serial 110,346,357. i

Cabinets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. I I

This invention relates to articles of furniture, and particularly to a folding desk, cabinet, or like article.

The general object of this invention is the provision of a folding cabinet, desk, or like article, so constructed that it may be readily folded into a relatively small compass so that it may be carried in the hand or readily.

transported from place to place, and which can be unfolded to provide a table or desk having a relatively great area of table surface.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character wherein the box or casing forming the body of the cabinet may be used for holding various articles.

A further object is to provide a construe tion of this character wherein this box or casing is so formed as to hold thereinasmall ice box containing a compartment for ice and one for water and one for food, the body of the box being preferably further divided so as to provide compartmentsfor books, maps, or other articles.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character embodying a body in the form of a box or casing having alid which can be opened out or turned over upon the body so as to form a closure therefor, and provide a plurality of lids, one of which is operatively connected to the body, these lids being operatively connected to each other so that they may be folded into parallel relation upon the top of the body when it is desiredto transport the desk or cabinet, or whereby they may be folded out into a horizontal relation and disposed ,in the same plane toform' an extended desk surface, these lids-and the body being provided with legs or supports which may be shifted into a vertical position or folded up, or otherwise disposed of for packing and car,- rying purposes.

A further general object is to provide a construction of this kind which is particularly adapted as a part of a camping outfit, whether in war or peace, and which is also adaptable to be carried on the running board of anautomobile. A p 7 Other objectswillmappear in the course of the following description.

'My invention is panying drawings, wherein illustrated in the accom- F'gure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet ordesk constructed iii/accordance with my invention; y c

Fig. 2 isa top plan view'of the construc tion illustrated in Fig. 1, the; extension leaves being broken away to show the supports therefor; v I c Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and with the extension leaves folded and the support in braces and legs folded; 7

ig. 1 is a longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; v I Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Jig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig.2.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the body of'my foldable desk or cabinet consists of a substantially rectangular box or casing 10, illustrated as being oblong in plan. The front wall 11 of this box or casing is preferably less in height than the rear wall. Hinged totheupper edge of this front wall is a, lid 12 which is attached to the front wall bythe hinges13,

these hinges being of such character that the lid may be turned over to a positionoverlying thebody or to a position in a horizon-.

tal plane and atright angles to and projecting from the front wall 11. In order to support the lid in the last named position, one or more brackets 14: are preferably hinged by hinges 15 to the outer .f'ace'of this lid, though it is to be understood that this bracket or brackets 14 mightvbe hinged to thefront wall 11 if desired. Thebox or casing 10 at its corners is provided, as shown in Fig. 6, with openings 16 in its bottom, through which the upper ends of the legs 17 may project. These legs at their upper extremities engage in socket members 18 formed of metal which are disposed at the corners of vthe box or casing. These socket members perform three functions. The socket members are angular in cross section and are attached to the respective end walls and toJthe front" or rear wall, as the case may be, and thus hold the end walls in'right angular relation to the front or the 'rear wall. They also form the sockets for the upper ends of the legs 17 and they form rests or supporting brackets for the lid 12 when the lid is turnedover upon the box.

The legs 17 in the construction illustrated in the figures are designed to be removed when the device is folded up for transportation, and in that case are disposed on a shelf 19 forming an extension of the bottom of the box, this shelf being closed by a lid 20 hinged to the shelf 19 by hinges 21,

and this lid being provided with a top 22.

and ends23 so that when the lid is closed a compartment is formed for the carriage of This is so hinged that this leaf or-table topv section 24 may be turned into a horizontal position projecting away from the box 10, or it may be turned over and rest upon the ppper edges of the ends of the box 10.

inged to the leaf 24 is a leaf 25, which also has the same size as the leaf 24 and, therefore, the same size as the box in plan. This leaf is hinged to the leaf 24 by hinges of such character that the leaf 25 may be swung over upon the top of the leaf 24 when the leaf 24 is swung over to cover the box or casing 10. In other words, when the leaf 24 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the leaf 25 wouldswing downward were it not for certain braces which I will later de scribe. The leaf 25 is hinged to the leaf 24 and hinged to one side edge of the leaf 25 is aleaf26 which has the same length and the same width as the leaves 24 and 25. and is so hingedby hinges 27 to the leaf 25 that it may be turned over upon the top of the leaf 25 when this leaf 25 is in its opened position. Withthe three leaves 24, 25, and 26 hinged as described, it follows that when it is desired to fold up this table top, which is formed of these hinged sections or leaves 24, 25 and 26, the leaf or section 26 is turned over upon the section 25. This section 25 is then turned over upon the outside face of the leaf 24 and the leaf 24 closed, or to make this operation slightly clearer, the

7 leaf 26 may be turned over upon the leaf or section 25, then both of the leaves 24 and 25 maybe turned over to a horizontal plane with the leaf 24 covering the box, and then the leaf 25 may be turned over upon the upper face of the leaf 24.

In order to support the leaf 24, I provide an arm 28 which is hinged, as at 29. so that it may be swung flat against the rear side wall of the box, or swung out to a position substantially .at right angles thereto. In thls last named position, it will support the leaf or section 24. Hinged to the extremity of the arm 28 for movement into or out of parallel relation thereto is a supporting arm, brace or bracket 30, which, when the sections 24 and 25 are opened out, extends parallel to the rear edges of the sections 24 and 25 and extends beneath both of these sections, thus affording a support for the section 25. This arm has pivoted to it'the extension leg 31 which is adapted tobe disposed in an approximately vertical position when the arm 30 is shifted to the position in Fig. 2, or which may be folded into a horizontal position against the sideof the arm30. Hinged to the arm 30 is another extension brace, bracket, orarm" 32 which, while long enough to extend beneath both of the sections 25 and 26, is at this time disposed in parallel relation to the ends of said sections, yet is sufficiently short so that it may befolded against that portion of the arm 30- which projects beyond the supporting member 28.

To the outside face of this brace, bracket,

or arm 32 is pivoted the leg 33 whic'h may be folded up into parallel relation to the member 32. l

It will be seen, therefore, that when the sections 24, 25 and 26 are opened out, the supporting members 28, 30- and 32, with the legs 31 and 33, will support these several sections of the complete table top in ahori- Zontal plane flush with the upper face of the box 10 and that when the lid 12 is turned over into position to cover the open top of box 10, a table will be'provided having an area in plan view about four times that of the area in plan of the box, but when the lid 12 is folded over onto the box and the various table top sections 24, 25 and 26 are folded over upon each other, and the legs 17 removed and disposed upon the shelf 19, the cabinet is folded into a relatively small compass whereby it may be readily trans ported from place to place. It is obvious that the box or casing 10 might be made relatively shallow or relatively deep as circumstances would demand, and that the shallower the box is the more easily the completed table or cabinet may be transported.

Preferably the'box or casing 10 has sufficient area and depth to provide for the carriage of various articles. I have illustrated the interior of this box as being divided by a transverse partition 34 into two parts, one ofthese parts or spaces being subdivided by a longitudinal partition 35. This provides two spaces or compartments which are adapted I to contain clothing, boxes or instruments I have shown in the other half of the box an ice chestandwater :aperture, normally closed by a lid 42 which is preferably a screw lid. This compartment 41 is intended to receive ice. The compartment 43 may be open at its top and is adapted to contain. food orother supplies which are intended to be kept cool by the ice in compartment 41. Preferably one end wall of the box 10 will be provided with an opening 44 through which the faucet 40 projects and also with an opening through which the inlet pipe 39 may project so that water may be readily drawn from the interior of the compartment 38 or fresh water placed therein from time to time. Of course, a suitable closure may be provided for the inlet pipe 39 so that in traveling this water will not be accidentally discharged.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the leaf'or section 26 may be provided at one ,end with means for engagement with the end wall of the box 10 so as to hold the several leaves or sections from any movement away from the end wall of the box. Thus, I have shown a spring latch 45 carried by this leaf or section 26 and engageable with the upper edge of the adjacent end wall of the box.

Other forms of foldable legs might be provided for the box 10-and for the leaf sections or desk top sections 25 and 26 and I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact form of my invention as illustrated. It will be obvious that the device may be made either of a very simple or more or less unique character, and that it may be used for a variety of purposes. It is particularly adapted for campin trips, officers in camp, and like uses. it provides a readily portable cabinet adapted to contain needed articles, but it may be readily converted, as before explained, into a relatively large'desk or table, either for writing purposes, for drawing, or for purposes of a dining table.

I claim 1. A folding desk or cabinet comprising a box-like body, a leaf hinged tothe top of one side of the box-like body whereby it may be folded over upon the box-like body or turned into a projected position therefrom and in the latter position having its upper surface flush with the upper edge of the box-like body, and a second leaf hinged to one end of the first named leaf for movement into a position on top of the first named leaf or into a position forming a lateral extension of the first named leaf, a third leaf hinged to the side edge of the secondnamed leaf fonmovementinto a position in the same plane as the second named third named leaf when projected extending parallel to one end wall of the body, and means for, supporting said leaves in extended positions.

2. A folding desk or cabinet comprising a box-like body havingone wallless in height than the other walls, a lid hinged to said relatively short wall and adapted to be foldbody, and when so folded over having its upper surface lying flush with the upper edge of the body, a leaf hinged to the body adjacent its upper edge and adapted to be leaf or into a position parallel thereto, said 7 ed over within the other three walls of. the

folded over upon the top of said lid when the latter is folded over upon the top of the body or folded over into a horizontally extended relation, a second leaf hinged to the end of the first named leaf for movement into alinement therewith or into superposed relation thereon, a third leaf hinged to the second named leaf for movement into alinement therewith or into superposed relation thereon, and means for supporting the said leaves in their horizontal alining relation, said means being formed of sections hinged to each other, a certain section being hinged to the wall of the body whereby said sections may be folded into parallel relation to said wall or extended beneath the leaves to support the same, said sections being provided with pivoted legs. 7

3. A folding desk or cabinet comprising a box-like body, the front wall of which is shorter than the side or rear walls, a lid hinged to said front wall and adapted to be turned over upon the body to form a closure therefor, and in such position having its upper surface lying flush with the upper edge of the body, a leaf hinged to the rear wall of the body for movement into a horizontally extended position flush with the upper edge of the body or into a position overlying the closed lid, a second leaf hinged to the end of the first leaf for movement into alinement therewith or for movement into superposed relation to the first named leaf, a third leaf hinged to the edge of the second leaf for movement into a horizontal alining position therewith or into superber for movement into or out of angular relation thereto, and when in the last named position extending beneath the first and second named leaves, a third supporting-memher hinged to the second named supporting member for movement into or out of angular relation thereto, and When in the last named position extending beneath the sec 0nd andthird named leaves, and legspiv oted to the second and third named'supporb ing members and adapted to be shifted into or out of parallel relation thereto.

" d. A folding desk comprising a box-like body a lid hinged to one Wall of the body for movement into a horizontally extended position or into a position over the body and in this latter position being flush with the upper edge thereof and forminga top thereto, a leaf hinged to the body formovement into position over the body or extendsignature.

ed to the second named bracing member.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my v WILLIAM TANQUERYQ bracing member, and a. foldable'leg oonnect- 

